How long does it take to get used to a new denture?

Most people need a few weeks. Speech usually settles first, eating takes longer, and starting with softer foods and smaller bites helps. Sore spots in the early weeks are normal and are what the one week check is for.

Will people be able to tell?

Modern dentures are made to look like teeth rather than like dentures, and you get to approve the shape and shade at the try-in stage before anything is finalized.

Can I make my denture more stable later?

Often, yes. Implants can be placed and an existing or new denture made to clip onto them. Mention it early, because it can affect how the denture is designed.

Over time your gums change shape and the denture stops matching them. A reline resurfaces the fitting side so it matches your mouth again. It is routine maintenance, not a repair.

Dentures

Dentures and Partials in Kearny Mesa

Made to fit the first time.

A denture that fits, made here in Kearny Mesa, is one you forget you are wearing. A denture that does not is one that lives in a drawer.

Call (858) 256-4838 Text (858) 256-4838

At a glance

What it is: A denture made to your measurements, with a one week check after delivery.
Where: Kearny Mesa Smile Center, 8018 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111.
Phone: (858) 256-4838
When: Fridays and Saturdays, 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Appointments: Two or three appointments in most cases.
After delivery: Every patient is scheduled for a check one week later, to evaluate fit and comfort.

Most Bad DenturesAre Fit Problems

Almost everyone who dislikes their denture describes the same things. It moves when they eat. It rubs a sore spot. It clicks. They can feel it shifting when they talk, so they talk less.

Very little of that is about how the denture was made. Gums change shape as they settle, which is why every patient is scheduled for a check one week later, to evaluate fit and comfort.

That visit is scheduled for everyone as a matter of course, not offered in case something went wrong.

How Dentures Are Made Here

01. A physical impression, then a scan. We still take a physical impression of your mouth, and then we scan that impression and send the file to the laboratory. Intraoral scanners have come a long way, but they still have trouble capturing soft tissue accurately, and your gums are what a denture actually sits on. Taking the impression and scanning it avoids that problem entirely, and accuracy at this stage is what determines everything after it.
02. A try-in you can actually judge. You come back for a try-in with the teeth set in acrylic, so it looks and sits like a real denture. It is white, with no color in it yet, and that is deliberate.
The old way set try-in teeth in wax. Wax moves. Teeth shift in it, and the heat of your own mouth can start to soften it while you are wearing it, so what you approved was not quite what you got. A monolithic acrylic try-in does not move, which means what you see at this appointment is what you are going to receive.
03. Your finished denture. Once you approve the try-in, the final denture is made with color and natural characterization, so it looks like teeth rather than like a denture.

Most of the time we deliver a denture in two or three appointments. That is about half the number the traditional method takes.

Full, Partial,Or Implant Retained

A full denture replaces an entire arch. A partial fills the gaps when you still have healthy teeth to clasp onto, and it also stops those teeth drifting into the space.

An implant retained denture clips onto two or more implants. It costs more, and it solves the single biggest complaint people have about lower dentures, which is that they move.

If you have worn a denture before and hated it, say so at the first visit and be specific about why. That tells us more about what to do differently than any measurement will.

Dentures in Kearny Mesa and San Diego

Most of the time we deliver a denture in two or three appointments, which fits reasonably well around a Friday and Saturday schedule.

Every patient is scheduled for a check one week later, to evaluate fit and comfort. That visit is scheduled for everyone as a matter of course, not offered in case something went wrong.

If you would like it to be more stable later, a denture can often be adapted to clip onto implants. It is worth asking about at the start even if it is not the plan today, because it can change how the denture is designed.